My Pot Roast

I LOVE pot roast this time of year. It is my husband's favorite meal and I love it because it is so easy and there are always yummy leftovers! I know everyone has their own version, but I thought I would put mine out there!

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My Pot Roast
1 chuck roast (the key is to use a chuck roast!)
1 bag of baby carrots
8-10 new potatoes cut in half
celery stalks
1 onion, chopped (white or yellow)
1 packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can Chicken Broth
Garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste
Pour chicken broth, cream of mushroom, and Lipton soup packet in your crock pot and mix together. Add chopped onion, half of carrots, celery stalks, and half of the potatoes.

Put roast on top and add the remainder of the carrots, potatoes, and celery.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top and then cover with water until roast is submerged.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

It comes out so tender that you cut it with a fork...SO DELICIOUS!!! Enjoy! :)

Rudolph Pancakes

This isn't really a recipe, but something cute I saw on Pinterest (of course!) and just had to make Christmas morning. The one I pinned was a little different, but this is just such a fun, simple idea for Christmas morning that gets a BIG smile from kids! (I used raisins for the eyes and a red M&M for the nose.)

See, I told you it gets a big smile!
This is a good one to bookmark for next year! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

Fire Roasted Tomato Chicken Tortilla Soup

If you like tortilla soup, this is the recipe for you! It tastes like something you order at a restaurant, which I just love. :) Like most recipes I try, it is super easy. Thanks again Taste of Home for another fabulous dinner!

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Fire Roasted Tomato Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (I used 3 chicken breasts)

1 carton chicken broth

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can black benas, drained, rinsed

1 sweet red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cp)

9 corn tortillas (6 inch), cut into 1/2 inch wide strips (I only used 3)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Lime wedges and chopped avacado if desired

In a slow cooker, combine chicken, chicken broth, corn, tomatoes, black beans, bell pepper, onion, 6 of the tortillas (I left this out because I feel like they get soggy), chili powder, cumin, salt, and red pepper. Cover; cook on low heat setting 5-7 hours or high 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken; shred with fork. Return to slow cooker and stir in cilantro. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook strips from remaining 3 tortillas in oil over medium heat about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crisp and light golden brown.
Top individual servings of soup with tortilla strips, lime wedges, and avacado if desired.

Seriously, this is SO GOOD...especially with the avacado if you like avacado! Perfect dinner in these cold months! Enjoy! :)

Fiesta Smothered Chicken

Here is another GREAT recipe from Taste of Home! I made this last week and it was SO GOOD!! It is super easy and doesn't take very long to make, which is really nice if you need to get dinner ready quick. If you like a dish with a little bit of a kick, make this one!!

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Fiesta Smothered Chicken

3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I made 3)

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped onion

4 teaspoons chopped seeded jalapeno pepper

6 teaspoons butter, divided

1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large resealable bag, combine the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder; add the chicken. Seal bag and turn to coat; set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet , saute the mushrooms, onion, and jalapeno in 2 teaspoons butter until tender. Remove and keep warm.

Drain and discard marinade. In the same skillet, cook chicken in remaining butter over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink. Spoon mixture over each chicken breast.
Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

That's it! So easy, quick, and SO DELISH!! Enjoy! :)

Cream Cheese Christmas Tree!

I had to take a salty item to a Christmas party on Monday, and I of course turned to Pinterest to see what cute things I had pinned. I immediately decided to make this...I have taken this item to many Bunco nights, but fell in love when it is shaped like a tree! The best part is it takes about 2 minutes to prepare and it is PRECIOUS!

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Cream Cheese Christmas Tree

1 block cream cheese

1 bottle Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (Fischer & Wieser is my favorite!!!)

1 green pepper

Cilantro or Parsley

Wheat Thins

Cut your cream cheese diagonally and put together as a triangle. Cut a star and a trunk out of your green pepper. Pour sauce over cream cheese and sprinkle cilantro or parsley over the top. Done!

Isn't that fun?!? I just loved the way it looked on a red plate too! It also tastes fabulous and gets devoured very quickly. Enjoy! :)

White Chili

This recipe from Taste of Home is simply DELICIOUS! The pictures DO NOT do it justice. I made this Monday night and we had it for leftovers Wednesday and I have had it for lunch twice...that is how good it is! I normally get sick of something, but I'm actually kind of sad I don't have any left. It is incredibly easy too and just perfect for the cold weather. You definitely need to add this to your menu soon!

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White Chili

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size strips (I used chicken breasts)

1 cup dried great northern beans, sorted, rinsed

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup

5 cups water

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

Sour cream and chopped avocado, if desired (HIGHLY recommend!)

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. In slow cooker, mix chicken, beans, onion, garlic, oregano, salt, soup and water. Cover; cook on low heat setting 9 to 10 hours. (It is going to look more like soup for a long time, so don't worry.)

Just before serving, stir cumin, pepper sauce and chiles into chili. (It definitely thickens up, but don't expect a normal chili consistency.)
Garnish with sour cream and avocado...I HIGHLY recommend doing this...made it even more delicious!

I forgot to mention, this recipe is low fat too...BONUS! (Probably before the sour cream and avocado!) I really loved this recipe and will definitely be making it again soon! Enjoy! :)

Salsa Chicken

OK, recipes really don't get any easier than this one. I got this recipe from Chef Mommy and I'm really glad I tried it. Simple doesn't even explain how easy this is and not only is it easy, it tastes great! You probably even have the ingredients on hand, so go ahead and make this one today!

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Salsa Chicken

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 jar Salsa

1 packet of Taco Seasoning (I didn't use the entire packet...seemed like a lot to me...I only used about 1 Tbsp.)

1 8-oz container of sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

Place chicken in the bottom of crockpot and cover with the cream of chicken soup and the salsa. Sprinkle the Taco Seasoning over that. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Shred the chicken...mine was so tender that a wooden spoon did the trick.
Mix in the sour cream.

Serve over rice.

Seriously...very yummy!!! Enjoy! :)

Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

To be honest, I don't even remember how I stumbled across this next recipe, but I printed it out from the Very Best Baking website. Very glad I did because it was INCREDIBLY easy and so, so good! I'm not a big fan of just pasta for dinner, so I baked some chicken and served it on top with a side of green beans. I think adding the chicken absolutely made the meal, so I highly recommend it!

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Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce

2 cups (8 oz.) dry penne pasta

8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLE CARNATION Evaporated Lowfat 2% Milk

2 cups (8-oz. pkg.) shredded Italian-style four-cheese blend

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Prepare pasta according to package directions, adding sun-dried tomatoes to boiling pasta water for last two minutes of cooking time; drain.

Meanwhile, combine evaporated milk, cheese, basil, garlic powder and pepper in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.

Add pasta and sun-dried tomatoes to cheese sauce; stir until combined.

Like I said earlier, adding the chicken absolutely made the meal, so I wouldn't skip this part if I were you! Enjoy! :)

Spider Krispies

OK, so this recipe is a little late...as in, made it for my son's class Halloween party and you won't be able to use it until next year kind of late. Oops! Well, you can bookmark it and have it ready for next year! :) I had to come up with a gluten free, peanut free snack for his party and my friend Melissa told me about this super fun, super yummy treat. I got it from CookiesandCups and WOW...there is some super cute stuff on there! I paired the snack with a fun little idea I saw on Pinterest of course...a jack-o-lantern drawn on a little orange. Seriously, isn't that precious?!? LOVE!

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Spider Krispies

6 cups Cocoa Pebbles (they are gluten free!)

1-10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmallows + additional marshmallows for eyes

1/4 cup butter

Chocolate chips

Pretzels

Spray a 9X9 inch pan lightly with cooking spray. Melt butter in sauce pan and add in marshmallows until melted. Remove from heat and stir in Cocoa Pebbles. Spread into your 9X9 inch pan and cool for 15 minutes. Cut out krispies with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Flatten additional marshmallows with a rolling pin for eyes and press into the krispies. The recipe called for the black spot on the eyes to be made with a food marker, but I didn't have one, so I stuck chocolate chips upside down in the marshmallows. The kids LOVED them! Then, stick pretzel sticks into the side for legs. (Can use gluten free pretzel sticks!)

Ta-da! How cute is that?? I thought they turned out so cute and the kids gobbled them up! In the original recipe, she also made teeth for the spider and even shows how to use this to make a precious owl. Definitely check it out! Hope your kids enjoy! :)

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

I confessed in my last post that I *might* have a slight addiction to Pinterest. Well, I'm SO GLAD I do, because I found this next recipe on there and it is nothing short of AMAZING! The first words out of my husband's mouth were that it tasted like something he could order at a restaurant. SCORE! I definitely agree and it is definitely a dish that will be on our weekly menu many more times. The recipe originally came from MelsKitchenCafe and I will definitely be making some more things from her blog!

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Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts)

1/2 red or green pepper, diced (I used red)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice on one lime

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

2 cups shredded cheese (I used Montery Jack/Colby)

Sour cream (optional) - I did this and it was great!

6 Burrito-sized flour tortillas

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream.

Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2 inch border around edges. (Optional: dot the cheese with sour cream)

Arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.

Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open. Spray the tortillas all over with cooking spray. Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange 2 wraps, seam-side down in pan and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side.

I cannot express to you how delicious these are! You really need to make them QUICKLY! Enjoy! :)

Pumpkin Muffins

OK, so I'm going to go ahead and throw it out there that I might have a small addiction to Pinterest these days. If you are on there, you have probably seen this next recipe...although I'm not even sure you can call it a recipe when it consists of 2 ingredients! I needed a baked good item to take to my son's school for their Pumpkin Carnival and I immediately thought of the pumpkin muffins that I had pinned. Easy is a complete understatement!! They took all of 2 seconds (OK, maybe a little longer) to prepare and they were YUMMY! Yes, they didn't all make it to his school. :)

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Pumpkin Muffins

1 box yellow cake mix

1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin

Drop both items in a bowl.
Mix it up. Yep, it's that easy! I will say that the batter is really thick, so be prepared for that. Bake at 350 for 20 - 25 minutes.

I sprinkled the top with powdered sugar.

Another idea from Pinterest...I put ribbon around a paper plate to dress it up a little since the items were going to be going home with people. These were so moist...VERY GOOD! Enjoy! :)

Southwestern Black Bean Salad

This past weekend, we had a football party to attend and were supposed to bring a side item. Well, I have been pinning recipes on pinterest, but had yet to make one yet, so I figured it was time! This came from Skinnytaste and oh my goodness...SO GLAD I found this website! I definitely will be making more of her recipes! This was so easy, yummy, and best of all, actually good for you! Win, win!

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Southwestern Black Bean Salad

1, 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

9 oz frozen corn, thawed

1 tomato, chopped

1 small hass avacado, diced

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

1 scallion, chopped (I forgot this...oops!)

1 lime, juice of

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp cilantro

Salt and fresh pepper

Combine beans, corn, tomato, onion, scallion, cilantro, salt and pepper.

(I doubled this recipe if it looks like a lot to you.)

Aren't the colors pretty?? LOVE it!

Mix with lime juice and olive oil. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Add avacado before serving. (Sorry...this picture isn't flipped on my computer, but for some reason it won't quit turning on blogger...grr!)

There were a lot of people eating this, and everyone liked it! I served it with tortilla chips. I did add a little garlic salt because I felt like it needed a little something extra. SO good and fresh! Enjoy! :)

The BEST Cherry Pie EVER!!!

OK, for as long as I can remember, I have requested a pie for my birthday. Yep, no cake for me...a pie. Two certain pies to be exact...cherry or chocolate banana. So, this year was no exception. When my mom asked me which pie I wanted, I promptly said cherry. But then, I had a request. I asked that she make it at my house so I could learn how she does it. Not that I plan on making my own birthday pie every year, but my mom's cherry pie is hands down the BEST cherry pie you have ever tasted. I know that one day she won't be able to make them, and I'm going to need to know her secrets. So, now I know and I'm passing them on to you! If you are a fan of cherry pies, take some time and make THIS one. It really isn't even difficult...I was pleasantly surprised!

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The BEST Cherry Pie

2 pie crusts (Now, my Mom normally makes her own crust. I'm not going to lie, she has tried to teach me how to do this, and I am unable to do it...I have given up. Pillsbury it is for me!)

Filling:

2 cans (16 oz each) pitted tart red cherries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp Cream Sherry (This is her secret ingredient. She has a tiny bottle of it...you have to buy it at a liquor store. She said the bottle has lasted for years since she only uses it for this recipe. The alcohol cooks out of it, so don't worry about that. Her original recipe calls for almond extract (1/4 tsp) if you want to use that instead.)

1 tbsp butter

sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 425. Drain the cherries and reserve 1 cup of the liquid from the cans. Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt and stir to blend. Add the reserved cherry juice and stir until smooth.

Place pan over low heat and stir constantly until thick and bubbly. It will look like this:
Boil gently for one minute and then remove from heat. Stir in the drained cherries, butter and Cream Sherry. Mix well. Pour into pie crust. Cut the second pie crust into long strips and make a cross on the pie.

Continue putting the strips over the top to get the lattice look. It is just an over, under pattern.

Fold the crust over to seal.

Here is Mom doing the crust...I still need practice on this too!

Sprinkle sugar over the top of the pie. (Please excuse the excess sugar...my son wanted to help!)

Tip: When baking a fruit filled pie, line your baking sheet with foil in case it boils over.

Bake for 25 minutes. Lower the heat to 375 and bake for 20 -25 minutes longer or until the crust is golden brown.

Isn't it pretty?!?

It tastes even better than it looks...I promise! Enjoy! :)

Pasta with Cream Sauce

I'm not a huge pasta person, but when I saw this recipe I just had to try it because it looked so light. I'm glad I did because this is delicious! The original recipe which came from Taste of Home is just for the pasta, but I added some baked chicken and made a meal out of it. Yum, yum!

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Pasta with Cream Sauce

1 package (16 ounces) bow tie pasta

1 small red onion, chopped

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced (I only used 3 because 4 seemed like a lot.)

3/4 cup chicken broth

1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh basil

1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano

1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Cook pasta according to pasta directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

Stir in the broth, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cook for 8 minutes or until reduced by about half.
Stir in cream. Cook, uncovered, 8-10 minutes longer or until the sauce is reduced to 1-1/4 cups. Drain pasta; toss with sauce.

Again, the recipe was just for the pasta, but I seasoned some chicken, baked it, and put it on top. I HIGHLY recommend putting chicken with it...it was SO GOOD like this! Talk about an easy, all in one meal! Enjoy! :)